


the four times yeonjun helped the members (the one time he lets himself being helped)

by bellafaithy



Category: TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: F/F, all these moments we are being fed with from show behind are killing me, also HOW TO SUMMARIZE, but just to show how small moments could actually warm you up, i NEED AFFECTIONS from txt, it's not really dramatic, just fluff but not tooth rotting i swear, just random thoughts that flew in into my head lol, my word vomit, uwu
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:55:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24508015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellafaithy/pseuds/bellafaithy
Summary: Four times the members are reminded of the fact yeonjun is the eldest and run his duty as one more so than he lets on, and the one time yeonjun lets himself being helped
Relationships: Choi Beomgyu/Choi Yeonjun, Choi Soobin/Choi Yeonjun, Choi Yeonjun/Everyone, Choi Yeonjun/Huening Kai, Choi Yeonjun/Kang Taehyun
Comments: 27
Kudos: 135





	1. beomgyu's a cuddle bug

“Hyung, I’m done showering!” Beomgyu yells over as he stumbles out of the bathroom, fresh in a washed up white shirt and loose shorts, hands towelling his dripping wet hair as he peeks into Yeonjun’s bedroom.

“Peek-a-boo,” he whispers, mimicking a ghost, Yeonjun throwing a balled-up fabric on his face just as he looks in.

“Ack! You just wore that this morning!”

Yeonjun sticks his tongue out as he gathered his towel and clothing. “You took too much of your fancy time in there I was wondering if you fell asleep like last time.”

Beomgyu rolls his eyes, mimes jumping on him as Yeonjun swiftly slides beside him, beelining into the vacant bathroom.

“Woah, it’s cold,” Beomgyu comments as soon as he steps into his shared room, Soobin squinting down at the screen of his phone as he gets ready for bed, his eye mask pulled back over his hair like a headband. “Hyung, did you let the window open?”

“Huh? Oh, yea. The room felt stuffy just now, I forgot to close it.”

“It’s okay. I’ll close it.”

Their schedule is fairly open for tomorrow morning, bless the god. Since they’ve gone all out on the promotions and variety shows for two weeks straight, a morning without their routine 4 a.m. wakeup call is such a luxury that they always seem to forget every now and then but undoubtedly lavishes in the most.

So seeing Soobin binge-monitoring their fancams when it’s close to 2 in the morning is acceptable enough that Beomgyu doesn’t think about telling on him to Yeonjun. But that doesn’t stop him from berating him on his already disturbed sleep cycle. “Soobin, on a rare stroke of luck, we managed to get a free morning tomorrow until ten. TEN.”

Soobin laughs, sheepish at being caught trying to be slick with it. “Just a few more minutes, then I’ll sleep.”

“Bummer. I’m turning the lights off.”

Beomgyu doesn’t get the time when his eyes suddenly blink open in the wide dark room of his, Soobin long passed out on his own bed, hand dangling over the edge and his phone right underneath it on the ground. He must have fallen asleep while watching videos again.

He doesn’t get much time pondering over why he’s awake when his head feels like it’s stuffed full with cotton balls from how sleep-deprived he is, until he feels it. Something wiggling inside his shirt at the back.

It’s small but it’s there. And he shrieks.

Soobin has the ability to sleep through even when the fire alarms are set off for 5 minutes straight without moving an inch, so Beomgyu knows with a fail cause that he could never get Soobin to help with whatever monstrosity of a devil is crawling up his back as he jumps off of his bed, yelping and hopping around as he tries to reach back, desperately fanning his shirt with a “Fuck—what the fuck!”.

Sleep thrown out of the window, he’s nearly tearing up as his hands couldn’t find the thing no matter how far up he tries to reach, so he barges out of the room and hopes to god that at least one of the members are not asleep enough that it’ll only take them a second before jumping in.

And his prayer is answered in the form of a groggy slouching Yeonjun, taken off-guarded from where he’s hovering over the sink of the kitchen with a mug at Beomgyu’s loud intrusion, visibly winching when Beomgyu comes to him toppling over his own toes while screaming bloody murder.

“Hyung! Hyung, oh my god there’s a bug—there’s A BUG!” he screeches, arms still positioned awkwardly over his back as he fidgets on shaky knees in front of Yeonjun, who resorts to raising his hands up in front of him in defence with the mug still in his crooked fingers.

“What, what. What’s happening?”

“BUG,” he’s almost screaming at this point, considering his bandmates are already and probably deep in wonderland at this time of the hour but he feels those nasty hairy feet scratching over his right shoulder blades and he involuntarily shivers all over. “A bug is in my shirt! For the love of god please _help me_ —”

“Okay okay, come here—” Beomgyu is squirming even as Yeonjun physically turns him around so that he could inspect his back, pulling at the collar line to have a look inside. “Where is it? I can’t see—”

“Here!” Yeonjun follows, with upmost difficulty because Beomgyu wouldn’t stop _jumping_ on his toes, the direction of Beomgyu’s fingers and a flash of black oval shaped bug catches him.

He cringes because holy shit, it’s huge. But he doesn’t blurt this out to Beomgyu, least he risks a possible mini cardiac arrest coming from him because Beomgyu is _that_ scared of bugs.

This doesn’t mean he’s willing to touch the motherfucker with his own two hands, _barehand_. He could get rid of them when there’s a broomstick and scoop in between, but _hell no_.

“Beomgyu, you—STOP MOVING—”

“MOM—”

He opts to grabbing on the creature using the shirt instead, trapping it inside and lifting the bunched up part of the shirt outside, dragging Beomgyu up with it.

“Beomgyu, come on. To the window,” he ushers quickly, scuttling the both of them towards the window at the side of the kitchen, swiftly opening the window wide open and bringing Beomgyu backwards so that he could release the bug out with minimal offence.

Just as he meticulously opens his palm, the bug gingerly peeking out of the folds of the fabric, he gently blows on it to urge it out. And as if freed from a dark prison, the bug hurtles out into the wide cold air of the night, swaying as if drunk mid-air and Yeonjun makes sure the coast is clear before informing Beomgyu.

Beomgyu, as expected, leaps away with a shriek, quickly tearing at his own clothes to quickly peek inside, slapping his palms all over the surfaces of his shirt for any foreign bumps he might find.

Yeonjun scoffs and heads over to the counter to retrieve the mug he had put away while administrating Beomgyu just now.

“It’s gone. Oh my god, thank you hyung you’re a life saver,” Beomgyu groans out loud, and he feels Beomgyu draping himself all over his back, tired from all the scares and ‘near-death’ experience.

“Sure sure,” he gives a commiserating pat on Beomgyu’s arm around his neck.

“What’re you doing still up, hyung?”

Yeonjun waddles around pouring himself a cold milk from the refrigerator with Beomgyu still latching onto him, painstakingly trying to bend down to lodge the carton back into the dairy compartment under his weight.

“I got thirsty,” he stifles a yawn with the rim of the mug before chugging down. Beomgyu (finally) lets go and glides around the counter to take a proper look at Yeonjun. He’s purposely tilting his head away just as Beomgyu tries peering.

Yeonjun strangely looks wide awake for someone who just got out of bed because of a late night thirst.

Yeonjun glances at him, turning away to wash the mug at the sink, back facing him and Beomgyu clicks his tongue. “Go back to bed, Beomgyu. We all need the sleep for tomorrow.”

“Yea.”

Beomgyu goes back into his room (after a period of time debating with himself in front of the door), Yeonjun chuckling at the sight. When the sound of the door clicking shut fills the empty air of the living room, he heaves out a sigh.

He hopes the younger doesn’t notice, the dark bags obviously hanging below his eyes from trying hard to sleep but couldn’t. Trying is an understatement on his behalf.

He’s seriously considering downing the bottle of cough syrup siting at the back corner of the cabinet where Soobin usually stuffs all of their medicines in just to get himself knocked out.

If he wants to risk oversleeping and also a possible dragged grogginess that could last for the entirety of the evening, of course, so no.

So he crosses out the cough syrup and alternates to watching some videos of panda cubs instead. That might help.

He’s swaddled in the layers of blankets he’s got bunching around him for extra comfort, just to give that extra sense of homey and warmth, hoping that that might lure himself to sleep, lying on his side with his back planted to the wall when the door of his room slowly creaks open.

Beomgyu gingerly peeks inside, eyes zeroing in on Yeonjun blinking at him from where he’s watching a panda crying after its nanny.

“Hyung,” he grins, sheepish. “Can I sleep with you tonight?”

Of course. What did Yeonjun expects? After the bug fiasco, surely Beomgyu is scared enough to lie back down on his own bed where he got the bug crawling into his clothes in his sleep.

He makes a show of rolling his eyes and sighing out loud, before patting on the empty space left of his single bed, discreetly urging the boy to come over.

Beomgyu bounces in with obvious glee at the silent permission, closing the door with upmost care so as to not disturb the tranquil silence in the room. Yeonjun has a room all for himself from the members’ consent, the single bed only occupying little space of the wide room.

He’s considerate enough that he lets the members share the extra space left of his closet for their own clothes, in a condition that they keep the orders in check and organized that it’s not an eyesore.

The room is dark, but it’s dimly lit by the street lamps fluorescence bleeding through the curtains that he could still make out the shape of the bed, padding his way towards it slowly so that he won’t bump into anything that could give him a mild bruise the next morning. He’s got enough of that from countless of nature’s call at 2 in the morning and blindly making his way in the pitch black of his room.

The bed dips and creaks under Beomgyu’s added weight, Yeonjun lifting the blankets up for him to slip inside. The instant extra body warmth is a welcoming greeting for Yeonjun’s own cold skin that he doesn’t realize he was craving just now when he goes over the lists of panda videos.

Beomgyu lays on his back, Yeonjun planting his back against the cold wall to give more space for Beomgyu to fit in. The single is big enough to fit two adults in one time but who knows? Yeonjun might risks Beomgyu a swelled-up forehead if he ends up kick-sleeping him down the bed.

It’s happened before with Hueningkai, they still bellowing about it whenever Hueningkai’s knee is brought into conversation.

Beomgyu shifts his head to face him, Yeonjun smiling down at a panda waddling around its brothers while trying to tackle each other onto the ground, the screen of his phone illuminating the soft slopes of his features and makes his eyes twinkle in the dark.

Man, Beomgyu wants to feel sappy as of now.

“Hyung, let me hug you,” he blurts out instead, just blinking innocently when Yeonjun regards him with a blank expression at the random request of PDA (not really PDA since they’re in a room without cameras but still).

“No,” Yeonjun deadpans, the panda cub squawking as it tumbles down its own paws. Beomgyu pouts.

“Let me hug you, hyung. I wanna cuddle you.”

The room is dark, the light from the street lamp isn’t enough to reach for their head, but strangely Yeonjun can imagine the glimmer in Beomgyu’s round eyes, staring straight at him with a dare to reject him.

Of course he’ll participate in this brief game of push-and-pull.

“Don’t wanna.”

“But hyungg! It’ll be warm, I swear.”

“NO,” to emphasize his point, Yeonjun shifts around, facing his back towards the younger, bunching up a good part of the blankets over his chest as a make-shift hug pillow.

Beomgyu squints his eyes. Wrong move, grasshopper.

He topples over the unsuspecting older with a dramatic ‘rawr!, Yeonjun squeaking as hands and legs shoots out to wrap tightly all over him, feels Beomgyu pressing flush against his back, Beomgyu snickering at his reaction.

“Yah, yah, you child—” Yeonjun mimes trashing in Beomgyu’s embrace, reaching backwards to tickle on the younger’s hips and Beomgyu crows at the sensation. It is short lived though, the small victory, for Beomgyu swiftly has Yeonjun in a tight lock with his legs hooking Yeonjun’s down on the mattress, arms crossing over Yeonjun’s very own over his chest, relishing in Yeonjun’s immediate surrender.

“Brat,” Yeonjun complains, yet he’s already laying limp in Beomgyu’s bear hug. Beomgyu’s already getting ahead of himself and nuzzling his face into the back of Yeonjun’s head, reminding him of that one clingy cat that used to lounge at their balcony for a few months before its owner took notice of its regular visits and never let it out ever since.

“At least let me turn my phone off properly.”

“Don’t wanna.”

Beomgyu teases, tightening his hold around him for emphasization. Yeonjun lets out a dramatic sigh, glancing down at their awkward arm locking. Really, all those times spent in the gym finally paid Beomgyu off, it seems. If Yeonjun’s feeling petty, he might credit Beomgyu’s strength to the fatigue consuming him at the moment.

But whatever. He’s impressed.

He doesn’t understand it yet, but he figures it might have to do with Beomgyu’s added warmth that is akin to a wide spread of duvet in a fall night, that the exhaustion finally seeps into his bones, lulling his mind into a sense of security and ease that the sleepiness just kind of drags itself over his eyes not even minutes after Beomgyu crashes into his bed.

He blinks his eyes slowly, feels the sticky pull of sleep on his eyelids. Beomgyu’s breath had eventually evens out to a soft muted wave against the back of his neck, feels his eyelashes fluttering the skin, convincing him that the younger had fallen asleep.

He closes his eyes, phone long forgotten. It’s comfortable, comforting to his bothered mind.

Maybe this is just what he needs for a good night sleep.


	2. ningning's got a sweet tooth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’m having a late night sugar craving right now,” is what Hueningkai says.
> 
> “You just had it yesterday,” Taehyun recalls, winding the towel around his neck like a scarf.
> 
> “I’m aware, and I’m a growing child that needs his usual supply of sugar.”
> 
> “You’re saying as if you didn’t just chug down a 1.5 litres of grape juice every two days by yourself,” Taehyun deadpans, noting how sheepish and closed off the maknae is at his keen observation.

Hueningkai has been jittering on his knees for a good ten minutes now, staring blankly at the black screen of his PC with a kind of intensity that Taehyun once remarked as scary and intimidating on his face.

He doesn’t want Taehyun taking notes on his sudden late night dilemmas, so before Taehyun could properly steps inside the room after a shower, Hueningkai’s already up on his feet, hands scrambling for his wallet and phones scattered on his desk top.

“Where’re you going?” Taehyun asks, keen eyes squinting as Hueningkai tugs a hoodie off the hanger in his closet, quickly slipping it onto his frame. He’s avoiding Taehyun’s eye contact on purpose.

“I’m having a late night sugar craving right now,” is what he is provided with before Hueningkai flashes him a grin too wide for it to be impish, the kind that he usually wears to discreetly persuade Taehyun into believing whatever bulls he’s pull at the moments, and shoves his things into his pants pockets.

“You just had it yesterday,” Taehyun recalls, winding the towel around his neck like a scarf.

“I’m aware, and I’m a growing child that needs his usual supply of sugar.”

“You’re saying as if you didn’t just chug down a 1.5 litres of grape juice every two days by yourself,” Taehyun deadpans, noting how sheepish and closed off the maknae is at his keen observation.

He’s probably having one of those nights again, where his train of thoughts runs miles a minute and has a malfunctioning brake with no end for its track.

He’ll have mercy on Hueningkai for tonight, he decides.

“Fine, but don’t go out for too long. It’s late.”

“Sure, sure, you want anything?”

“Nah, I’m good,” Hueningkai salutes him before gliding past him without any delay.

Hueningkai plans on waltzing his way out unnoticed by the rest since they could be coming up with more questions than Taehyun had just now. It’s not the first time he’s had this impulsive 11 p.m. night outing by himself and had to get an earful from the members because he had gone out without a notice.

But Yeonjun is standing awkwardly in the middle of the living room with hands spread over his chest, legs bent and neck crooked to the side, probably trying to perfect a dance move from their recent practices.

And Hueningkai is a little too late to shuffle towards the door undetected because Yeonjun’s bat ears catches on his socked feet and he snaps his head towards him.

“Oh, Huening,” he calls out, straightening up his back before immediately groaning at the subtle crack his neck lets out. Hueningkai gives a tight-lipped smile. “Where’re you going?”

“The convenience store.”

“At this hour?”

“Well, it’s not the first time. Do you want anything, hyung?” Yeonjun blinks at the somewhat urgent tone to his voice, notices the stiff square to his shoulders and the soft jitter of his feet. Understanding washes over his face like a glimpse of light from blackout curtains.

Sometimes, Hueningkai just wonders how much the members could understand the turmoil simmering inside him to the point it only takes one look of his face to know.

“Hmm, no. It’s fine,” Yeonjun shakes his head with a soft reply. Hueningkai nods before making to tug his shoes on.

Yeonjun is about to go through the choreography again, but his eyes stay glued to Hueningkai’s back, the hoodie stretching over the broad expanse of his shoulders. He’s growing out of his clothes again.

He gnaws on his bottom lips, rethinking the situation.

“Huening,” he blurts out just as Hueningkai is pushing at the door. “Wait! I wanna come too.”

So that’s how Yeonjun finds himself walking down the sidewalk of the cold fall night, the night breeze cutting into his skin a little too much for his liking. He was too frantic on his way out so that Hueningkai didn’t have to wait for him for too long that he just snagged the closest easiest clothe he could manage: a flimsy black coat over the pullover he’s already adorned just now.

Hueningkai walks closely beside him, hands deep in his hoodie pockets. He looks like his head is trying to grab whatever words that are escaping from his mind, obviously trying to fill in the silence between them.

He winds an arm around the younger, knocking him from their languid pace. “The weather’s nice today. It’s kinda cold but damn I need the fresh air.”

Hueningkai appreciates the effort, albeit subtle, that Yeonjun puts into not pressuring him into saying anything that’s plaguing his mind for the last weeks. Yeonjun is not the best at consoling people like Beomgyu or Soobin does, but he is as intuitive as they could be whenever the members’ wellbeings are put into picture.

He had wanted to be alone, just to clear out his head for a bit before going back into motion with others. But Yeonjun’s arm around him and his warmth is more welcoming than he expected.

They stumble into the convenience store with Yeonjun rapidly rubbing down the sides of his arms while muffling his curses for the cold. Hueningkai grins at the bemused look the worker behind the counter flashes at them before scurrying with the older towards the ice cream section.

“I might be a masochist. Ice cream sounds so good even when I’m freezing my ass off,” there goes his mouth, but Yeonjun has no decency to care as of now, and judging by the impish smile curling Hueningkai’s lips at his rambling, he’s enjoying this too, it seems.

“Do you wanna stay outside for a while longer?” Yeonjun’s already has an armful of snacks and coca cola cans in his arms when Hueningkai picks out a blue mint ice cream out of the freezer. “I kinda want ramyeon right now.”

Yeonjun’s eyes are hopeful, but Hueningkai has a feeling this proposition has more to do with his own current state more so than the older’s appetite. Yeonjun never stays outside for more than half an hour at midnight, especially during promotion weeks.

That says a lot.

So they end up getting instant cup noodles and sausages for ‘good luck’ as what Yeonjun has chirped. Yeonjun’s mixing up his own noodles with the sauces after draining the hot water out, when Hueningkai peeps.

“Hyung, can we sit outside?”

Yeonjun hums, looking up towards the glass window where the mini playground with benches laid out right in front of the convenience store compound. It’s still cold, but he sees the point. Hueningkai wants the wide open space and air to think.

He looks past his own thin coat, the possibility of him catching a cold later in the morning and shrugs. “Sure.”

The night is a deep indigo dark, the stars splattered across the sky dulled by the layer of polluted air, the cold is still bordering on a bit too much, but the spicy hot noodles might help in giving him a bit of heat, Yeonjun thinks as they both carry the food towards a vacant bench in front of the slides, cursing as their fingertips burn from grabbing at the lids of the ramyeon.

Just as Hueningkai is comfortably seated on the bench, ready to dig in after setting down the bags of goods at the foot of the bench, Yeonjun’s head snaps up in epiphany, crying out a “Oh my god! I forgot the sausages!” dashing towards the convenience store before Hueningkai could say a word.

He shakes his head, endeared by the very aspects of the older himself. He hums, glancing around to kill time as he decidedly waits for the older to return.

Then his eyes land on the slides, the swings and the overall mini playground, and something akin to longing and melancholy sweeps him over.

Yeonjun got side-tracked. Not a surprise. He really meant on just having it easy tonight and avoid any possible bloat from climbing on his face the next morning, but he just really needs the cheese, okay?

He tries to hurry on and makes a dash towards where Hueningkai is while juggling hot sausages and melted cheese container, but slows to a trot when no Hueningkai is on sight, yet the food is where he left it.

He looks around, baffled at the sudden disappearance, slowly placing the food in hand onto the bench. “Huening,” he calls out loud.

“Hyung,” he snaps his head towards the general direction of the slides, almost tripping over his own toes at the sight of Hueningkai laying upside down on the top of the twin slides, hanging over the edge with his feet up, arms crossed over his chest.

Yeonjun blinks rapidly, dumbfounded by the younger’s behaviour. He looks down on the food, probably growing cold directly exposed to the weather like this, scratches at his sideburn before making his way towards the other.

Hueningkai sees Yeonjun approaching from his periphery vision, but doesn’t say a word. Thankfully.

Yeonjun doesn’t comment on his awkward position on the slides, but laying down like this actually gives him a rather nice view of the sky. His back needs the stretch, by the way, he reasons.

Footsteps climb the short stairs leading up to the top of the twin slides where Hueningkai is currently sagging on. Yeonjun crouches, burying his chin into the folds of his arms over his knees, staring down at him with those deep black eyes.

It’s always a little unnerving whenever Yeonjun gives him the _look,_ where Hueningkai usually finds himself voluntarily spewing out secrets and whatever deep thoughts that are stuck within himself to him. Nobody usually could go past it, even Soobin, and Hueningkai swears Soobin could be the most secretive one out of the five of them and nobody could tell right away.

Yeonjun opens his mouth as if to speak, but the words die on the tip of his tongue and he sighs, praying that his body could take the chilly weather and against his better judgement, joins the younger, carefully laying down on the other slide.

The slide is freaking cold, he could still feel it through the coat, but ignores it in favour of talking Hueningkai out of his current dilemma. Their knees bump against each other as Yeonjun shifts into place, but Hueningkai keeps their legs touching like that.

“The stars are kinda pretty, tonight,” Yeonjun voices out, voice sounding constricted by the awkward position. The stars are twinkling dully, like dying sparks of flame capered across the expenses of the wide sky, the breeze had settled on a still film of coolness around them and Yeonjun is grateful for that. “Also, your thinking is very loud. Stop that.”

Hueningkai bursts out loud at the direct observation and cutting to the point, wheezing because seriously, Choi Yeonjun is not Choi Yeonjun if he beats around the bushes.

“I’m serious. If the mind could manifest themselves into physical forms, yours would be an unstoppable bullet train hitting all the stop signs,” Yeonjun adds just as Hueningkai is wheezing to his side, clutching on his lower abdomen as he curls into himself.

Yeonjun eyes him from the corner of his eyes, Hueningkai leaning his forehead against the wall separating the twin slides, yet the wall is minuscule enough that Hueningkai’s wavy locks spill over to tickle his temple. As if on instinct, his hand shoots out to bury his fingers into the locks, the hair already loosing a good portion of its silkiness from countless of chemicals and hair straighteners.

The air is silent, still and undisturbed around him that Yeonjun briefly wonders what happened to the wind that was so hell-bent on freezing his nipples off just now. His spine is starting to ache from the awkward paying position but Hueningkai slowly pulls his face from the minuscule wall, eyes uncertain and so unadultered.

“Haish, this kid,” he offers an emphatic smile, stroking his head in that affectionate way that he knows Hueningkai secretly relishes in. “We’ve been together for what, more than 3 years already. And you still can’t get yourself to talk it out to me.”

There’s a vicious pout settling on Hueningkai’s lips at his strong statement. Yeonjun smiles. “But that just means you care about what we think too much. You’re strong, kid. That’s why Soobin admires you so much.”

“You mean baby me so much,” Hueningkai adds, just to lighten the atmosphere. Yeonjun shifts his weight to the side, facing Hueningkai. Half of his face is obstructed by the wall, but Hueningkai keeps his eyes straight to his, like a child eagerly waiting for his promised candy after a good deed.

“Isn’t that why we pester you all the time? In this industry, we only have each other to understand and accept the things that we go through each day,” Yeonjun says softly, tucking the long strands into the back of Hueningkai’s ear.

He looks surprised, astound, most probably.

“For now, you need to remember that we are always here. Technically speaking, we can’t run away from each other since our career implores us to stick together like hot glue. Of course, I can’t promise you that whatever troubles you encounter, it won’t immediately go away. But I can promise you that it’ll get better.”

_But what if I think sometimes it’s just too much?_

“Then how do you think I got through those 5 years of agony waiting for you guys to come around?” those words strike something deep within him, a gaping hole suddenly filled to the brim with liquid warmth and something gratifying.

“It’s because I told myself it’ll get better, that I’ll have someone that I could hold on to in the end. That all of this, all of this is worth it. And then I got my answer. A bit of self-hypnotizing and manipulation there, but what else could I do?”

Yeonjun swears Hueningkai’s eyes are glossing by the time he cracks up a commiserating smile, berating himself for his attempt at consoling. Well, the effort is much appreciated (from his own point of view) but the execution?

Meh.

He catapults into a sitting position, not daring to find out if Hueningkai had shed a tear or too at his nagging, winching at the sound of his backbones popping from the aggressive movement. Hueningkai startles at the motion, making to straighten his back too.

“Come on! The ramyeon’s getting colder—Eeekk!”

“Ah hyung!”

His hand slips from where he’s trying to perch himself on the floor as a temporary support, heart rising high to his throat, and down he goes the slide on his back, head plunging first, slipping from the tips of Hueningkai’s grasp.

He arrives dramatically deliberate at the bottom of the slides, head hanging dangerously 2 inches from crushing straight onto the pavement, and Yeonjun stares blankly up at the cold sky, his soul practically having left his body on the way down there.

A moment of silence pass, he could feel Hueningkai struggling on whether to laugh or just quietly help him.

“Don’t,” he manages solemnly, not getting up, a faint trail of hot shame climbing up his spine. “Not a word.”

“That could have gone worse?”

Yeonjun is still sulking at the mortifying experience of the slides. Hueningkai still couldn’t fend off the tickle of laugh on his belly. "I mean, your head could have smashed on the ground and you might even have to deal with me panicking over it, on top of it."

“Yea, laugh at my pain, brat,” the older scoffs, winding his arms tighter around his torso for warmth, the plastic bags bumping occasionally against his side as he marches forward, Hueningkai trying to match the pace of his steps while trying to tear open ice cream pack with his teeth. “When we go back, you go and laugh about it with the kids. Great.”

They’ve finished up the late night meal (after Yeonjun finally gathered himself from his agony and embarrassment) and Hueningkai is down to his second package of ice cream already.

As much as Yeonjun himself loves the cold confection, he’s still very much freezing and the heat from the ramyeon could only do so much.

He notices the smile Hueningkai presses against the ice cream, and he reasons to himself this is good enough. At least he could go to sleep with an assurance that their maknae feels fine enough for a good rest without feeling guilty.

“Are you feeling better now?” the slight nod he receives has him almost sighing in relief. Hueningkai is always awfully quiet and tends to keep more to himself than letting them out. He’s relieved that at least, even though he is not informed of anything or whatsoever that is concerning to the younger eventhough he has a good hunch of what it was, he’s still grateful.

So long as the members don’t dwell in their emotions too much, Yeonjun could be at ease.

The wind cuts through his coat and he involuntarily shudders. Hueningkai quickly takes notice of it, hooking his fingers into the crook of his elbow to gain his attention. “Hyung, you’re shivering.”

“Yeah? Well it was already cold when we got out.”

His eyebrows shoot up way past his locks it is quite comical. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he gripes, guilt washing over his face like wet soap and Yeonjun laughs, caressing the lobe of Hueningkai’s ear with his fingers.

He’s grinning, yet his teeth start chattering. His fingers are icy cold when they brush against Hueningkai’s ear. Hueningkai scrunches up his nose.

“Here, wear my coat.”

“Why? We’re like 5 minutes away from the dorm,” more like 7, but he can live.

Hueningkai pouts, Yeonjun seriously considering pinching his lips with his fingers, but then a huge grin splits across his face and Yeonjun blinks at the swift change of expression.

“Then let’s share!” is the most warning he is given before Hueningkai spreads open the zipped hoodie and coat he is currently in, a gloating grin on his face, and proceeds to envelop Yeonjun in a tight bear hug, the impact of Hueningkai’s broad chest colliding with his back almost causing him to trip on his toes.

“Yah! You surprised me—” Yeonjun stumbles under Hueningkai’s weight, yet the immediate warmth he is embraced with brings instant relief to his freezing cold skin. Hueningkai disregards his chastises and hugs him closer, arms wounded around Yeonjun’s torso and arms as he tries to cover the both of them with his coat and hoodie the best he could.

Yeonjun holds back a snort, throwing a glare of disbelief over his shoulders where Hueningkai has his chin hooked on. “You’re unbelievable,” he mutters, gently shaking his head.

Hueningkai just grins, impish. Yeonjun tugs at the tip of his nose in between his index and middle finger, ignoring the whine he received, before promptly waddles forward with the younger, Hueningkai attached to his back like a koala yet he doesn’t mind it much.

_This is nice,_ Hueningkai contemplates, stifling a chuckle as Yeonjun complains about his unjust growth spurt and him being too heavy.

“We should go out more like this.”

“Yea yea.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> like what namjoon says, we fight fire with fire. so i ate half a pit of ice cream by myself when its raining and freaking cold outside and my ass is freezing ;;-;;
> 
> (you could probably already tell that my tittles don't really make senses yea? yehet)

**Author's Note:**

> irl the kids sometimes would call yeonjun up just so he could get rid of bugs for them  
> it's annoying (if it happened to me cuz im a bij lol) but at the same real cute kids real cute XD


End file.
